Firing your evaporator: How full is the firebox?

In this video: https://youtu.be/HQPYXBiGheM?t=1965 you can see in this firebox loading they keep the firebox loaded pretty much right up to the pan. Is this standard practice? I had not been doing this. Usually when I go to add more wood it's down to maybe 1/4 to 1/3 full, and I take that level up to 1/2 to 3/4 full. Instead it looks like they're aiming that when they load it the firebox is only down to 3/4 and they push that up to 100% full.

I can see how if you have a blower (which I now do) this might produce more heat on the pan, at the expense of burning a little extra wood. What do you do?

Gabe

I generally refill my firebox when the fire is down to about 50% and then I fill the firebox to the top of the fire door. I don't try to squeeze in every piece of wood that will fit because I try to minimize the amount of time the door is open for firing. Through trial and error I have determined that I need to feed the evaporator every 7 minutes and it usually takes 7 to 8 pieces of wood to refill it to what I consider full. This keeps my boil very steady which is what I am striving to achieve.
Gary

I don’t stuff the firebox past 2/3 full on the theory that more air circulation is better. I refill when the temp drops on my stack thermometer.

Here are a few other videos where they fill it full.

At 1:26 in the video: https://youtu.be/ndXBmXHG-DY

At 1:50 in the video: https://youtu.be/WmfKOW5X168

At 1:00 in the video: https://youtu.be/pWRZP1kayHk

Gabe, I have that exact evaporator and I fill it right up every time. I do not R.O., and it takes about 8 minutes from start up of the fire to get a boil going.

I fill the box on my Mason 2x4 full right to the bottom of the pan.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'll fill my firebox to the top this year, crank up the AUF, and see how it goes. I don't have a stack thermometer, but I should be able to tell a lot by boil rate (and maybe how much the stack is glowing). Hoping it ups my boil rate a bit!

GO

I’d like to put in another plug for the stack thermometer. They’re relatively cheap, easy to install, and help you know exactly what’s going on under the pans.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by ecolbeck

I’d like to put in another plug for the stack thermometer. They’re relatively cheap, easy to install, and help you know exactly what’s going on under the pans.

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What would you recommend for a cheap stack thermometer?

GO

Quote:

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Originally Posted by berkshires

What would you recommend for a cheap stack thermometer?

GO

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I would be interested in that as well, I was just going to add a magnetic one on the single wall pipe. And would also be interested in the desirable temperature range one should be looking for?